


Darcy Meets the Others

by underscore65



Series: Darcy Meets the Avengers [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Kid Darcy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:42:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1805689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underscore65/pseuds/underscore65





	1. Darcy Meets Nick Fury

 

When Darcy was born her parent’s brought her home from the hospital and had a party celebrating the birth of their daughter. Deciding to invite a few people from their work and the others that lived on the street, they sent invitations. Many people responded and so on the Saturday a few weeks after their daughter was born a small gathering occurred at the Lewis household.

 

While her mother was busy entertaining her workmates from the hospital and assuring them the maternity leave would not last long, and her father was telling stories to the neighbour, and apologises to the early morning screaming that she created, Darcy was busy herself gurgling in the arms of an old friend. The coos of the old ladies that had shown up were apparently very entertaining, drawing most of Darcy’s focus. A knock on the door signaled a late comer, and Darcy’s father opened it, welcoming in the normally recluse man from down the street.

 

Not much was known about the man, except his name, Nick Fury, and that he had a government job that required him to spend long periods of time away from his house. The children of the neighbourhood seemed to think his house was haunted, and there had been many attempts to break into his backyard as dares over the year, all resulting in scared children running home before too much damage was caused.

 

Mr. Fury walked into the room, a bottle of wine for the house and a brightly wrapped package in his arms. Giving the wine to Mr. Lewis, he proceeded to try and palm off the present to Mrs. Lewis, who insisted he give it to Baby Darcy himself, and then took the baby out of whoever was holding her and promptly depositing her in Mr. Fury’s arms.

 

Fury looked down at the bundle of baby, her face showing one of confusion as she studied the new person who was holding her, before what could only be described as a smile emerged on her face. Fury moved to sit on one of the lounge chairs, which was quickly abandoned by the others who were already sitting on it, before rearranging Darcy in his arms so he could show her the present he bought her, at the insistence of someone from his work.

 

Darcy’s eyes followed the bright colours of the paper, growing when it made noise as Fury unwrapped what was inside. He pulled out the plush rabbit, placing it in his arms next to Darcy, who shifted so it looked as if she were snuggling the toy. Fury gazed down at the small child, completely captivated by her; he who was not normally interested in children was suddenly wrapped around the finger of this child.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy’s parents didn’t seem to mind Nick’s caring relationship with Darcy and would often drop her around to him when they both had to work. At the time Fury found himself forced to take a couple months off due to injuries, and he quickly realised the amount of nights Darcy spent with him outweighed the amount of nights she spent at home. It didn’t take much for him to set up an area for her at his house to ensure her comfort.

 

 

In the years to follow, Fury will both greatly regret going to the party, and be thankful for it. Darcy was a joy in his life, a wonder to be around. Whenever he was home in the house, a safe house he used most of the time, he could be sure that Darcy would come around knocking on his door. At first he found it odd that not only did she seem to notice the exact moment he arrived home, but that Fury never got any calls from her parents distressed about her location.

 

 

Darcy would happily listen to his stories, sometimes even real missions he had gone on that he would recount to her, covered up by telling them as tales. While all the other kids still kept their distance, it became almost natural for Darcy to run up for a hug. Nick understood he spoiled the girl, trying to fill the role of absent father and mother, while still keeping some distance so that when he went on missions it wasn’t too disorientating for her.

 

 

But Darcy was also a slight trouble maker, always ready to go the extra mile to see what the limits of the world are. The day she fell from his backyard tree and broke her arm filled him with more panic that he normally experienced to missions. By the time she was in school, Fury had started to give her self-defence lessons, just minor stuff, so that all the times she got into fights at school, she would be able to defend herself

 

* * *

 

 

When the Lewis’ moved a couple days before Darcy’s tenth birthday, Fury made sure to give her his direct mobile number, and a honorary SHIELD badge with a brief explanation of his real job and life. He doubted Darcy understood the reality of the situation, but she held the badge with extreme care and respect, making to wrap it up fully before carefully stowing it in her backpack (Fury would later learn that it is that badge that she uses to get herself into and out of a lot of sticky situations as a teenager), and every now and then he would pick up his phone to find a message from her.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When Fury finally runs into Darcy again face-to-face at Avengers tower, she is both exactly what he would expect and nothing like the future versions of her he imagined. And he wouldn’t expect anything else from Darcy.

 

 

 

 


	2. Darcy Meets Coulson

When Darcy meets Phil Coulson, it’s not the first time that he has heard about her, or seen her, or witnessed her amazing snark.

 

Frankly, Phil Coulson believes himself to almost be an expert on Darcy Lewis by the time they actually meet face to face.

 

As it should be expected, seeing as not only has he been monitoring her since she was but a few years old, on very direct very confidential orders from Fury (one of his first actual assignments in SHIELD); but he has also been privy to some very secretive very personal stories from Fury himself.

 

 

Granted at first Phil had no idea why Fury wanted weekly updates on a child, but after seeing Fury’s face light up after getting a message on a secure line that even Phil didn’t know existed (not that he was jealous or anything), it was clear the importance of Darcy Lewis, which resulted in him putting his whole effort into making sure she was okay. (Plus after he made sure it wasn’t a practical joke the director was putting on him it was much easier)

 

This also resulted in Phil standing there, doing his best to remove Darcy from the situation at hand. Even if it means packing up her scientist and literally removing any need for her to be there he will do it (Phil felt slightly upset, he had done plenty of research into Dr Fosters work and deemed her one of the safer options for internships that made it through to Darcy's ears). Granted it wasn’t his smartest move, but when put to the wire, it was the only thing Phil could think of short of actually kidnapping her and having Barton fly her across to the other side of the country to a safe house.

 

 

And maybe Coulson can understand the annoyance on the face of the short brunette woman with him, and the old man seems upset as well. But you can practically see Darcy fuming as she takes in the logo on the side of the van.

 

Coulson knows that today will end with an angry call from Fury.

 

But at the same time, the order has been given, and going back on it now will not only be very counter-productive, but against SHIELD guidelines. And even though Coulson fears for his life, he would rather die than actively go against SHIELD guidelines.

 

He makes sure that the men take the equipment to their makeshift set up at the sight of the 0-8-4, paying careful attention to ensure nothing is damaged too badly. While sorting and cataloging the equipment, Phil gets called when high readings are found on a device. But seeing the customized I-pod that he helped organise for a certain someone’s 15th birthday, that comes equipped with a GPS locator and panic button, he isn't too worried. Well at least not currently. He knows that when Darcy finds it missing he will be in greater trouble; he remembers the incident of the missing laptop of ’09.

 

 

 

And so the first time Darcy is properly introduced to Phil it is immediately followed by a slap to the face and a large hug. Confused as to what is going on, (also having just viewed what seemed to be a Norse God defeat a mechanical robot/weapon) Phil finds himself reluctant to return the hug. But after Darcy decides it has gone on long enough and breaks off from it, she speaks to him,

‘So you are the Agent. Never take my stuff again and we are going to get along fine’, before promptly turning around and walking back to Jane.

 

Phil thinks he realises why Fury doesn't let Darcy visit personally at the office.


	3. Darcy Meets Jane

 

 

Darcy meets Jane about 2 weeks before she joins her in an RV on a trip across the country.

 

 

Darcy had been in her guidance counselors office, trying to discuss her options for making up her failed unit when she had heard the commotion outside.

 

Upon learning that there was nothing to do to avoid having to do another science unit, Darcy had literally left the room to bump into a very small female who was making quite a ruckus with a very old man.

 

‘What do you mean cut my funding? This trip could be the breakthrough I need, everything is already in order you can’t just do this!’ the small woman screeched.

 

‘Dr Foster,’ the old man tried to quieten her down. ‘Surely you understand. We are on a limited budget for science research projects and there is no guarantee anything will come out of this trip. In all honesty it seems like the perfect waste of resources. I mean you don’t even have an intern willing to go with you.’

 

Seeing an opportunity and doing what she nearly always does, jump in without thinking first, Darcy immediately steps forward.

 

‘Hi,’ she said sticking out her hand. ‘Darcy Lewis, I am the intern that is looking forward to attending this research project with Dr foster. It would be a great shame if it was cancelled, seeing as I was just finalising the paperwork for this to count as my science unit with the admissions board. Hopefully this mix-up by the university won’t end up with me being unable to get my degree, as it would be a large shame for that to happen.’

 

The old man, looked Darcy up and down before taking her offered hand and giving it a small shake.

 

‘Lewis?’ he questioned. ‘I didn’t know you were interested in this field. Aren't you the girl who studied computer science and allegedly broke into the system and changed all the unit codes of classes to dirty words?’

 

‘I study political science,’ Darcy said, watching as Dr Foster rolled her eyes at that, as if Darcy wasn’t saving her project for her. ‘And I was never found guilty of those crimes and they have all been cleared from my record. But, it would be a shame if something else terrible like that were to occur and there was evidence found linking it back to a certain member of faculty.’ Darcy said with a carefree attitude, like one might discuss the weather.

 

The old man gulped, Dr. Fosters eyes widened and Darcy stood there smirking.

 

Finally after a tense few minutes the old man turned back to Dr Foster.

 

‘You know, I think this research project is a marvelous idea. The information gathered could be very beneficial for our science department. Consider the funding approved.’ Before he quickly turned and walked off, glancing over his should and muttering something that sounded a bit like, ‘at least it will get her out of my hair for a while.’

 

Once the man was out of sight, Dr Foster turned to Darcy, eyes still wide.

 

‘Did you just threaten the head of the department?’ she questioned.

 

Darcy shrugged. ‘Can I have your internship? I need one more science unit and there is no way I am attempting intro to Bio again, that stuff just isn't right.’

 

Dr Foster smiled. ‘Yeah no worries, considered it yours, no one else applied for it anyway. My name is Jane by the way, welcome aboard, and thanks for that back there.’

 

‘Darcy’, Darcy said introducing herself. ‘I feel like this is the beginning of a very wonderful and magical friendship. So, where are we going, what are we doing, what even do you study? I haven’t seen you before?’

 

‘Astrophysicist,.’ Jane answered. ‘Our project is going to the Desert and researching anomalies of the stars, don’t worry I can give you the grant application and that can give you a rundown of the project. If you are keen, we leave in 2 weeks.’

 

‘Cool, no worries, just give me a day’s warning, the size of the bag I can pack and at least I-pod connectivity in whatever vehicle we are traveling in and I am set.’

 

 

It wasn’t until those 2 weeks later when Darcy first laid eyes on the RV that was soon to be her home, had she even been happier to butt into a conversation and get involved in a situation that she really had nothing to do with.

 

 

 


	4. Darcy Meets Pepper

 

Darcy meets Pepper close to the end her first degree.

 

 

Sure Darcy had always loved computers. The way you could write a code that was seemingly nonsense, filled with numbers and symbols that, by logic, shouldn’t go together would turn around and become beautiful art. The way you could pull apart things and combine them to create new, greater things. The way that all she needed was a broken circuit board, her special iPod from Uncle Nick (which technically wasn’t cheating) and Wi-Fi and she could hack into any system.

(Which she proved to those jerks in her prac class who seemed to think that women couldn’t work computers. And the university unit codes were funny to do – after a while you have to get creative to keep coming up with dirty words in 4 letters or less)

 

 

But the night Darcy met Pepper Potts she knew she had taken the wrong path in life.

 

 

Darcy’s first instinct had been to hate the woman, who had close ties with Stark (Darcy’s sworn nemesis, even if he didn’t know), but after just watching her introduce herself Darcy knew she was gone.

 

See Darcy had been nominated for a scholarship from the Maria Stark Foundation, or rather she had discovered the scholarship while digging around the Starks servers and decided to submit her own essay and maybe boost up her chances of winning with clever code (Unknown to Darcy, Stark had been very aware of her meddling and decided not to take any action against her as he was impressed with her tenacity and skill).

 

The top 5 winners of the scholarship were all invited to New York, and aged 22 Darcy was eager to go and enjoy the Big Apple.

 

So sitting in the restaurant of a swanky hotel, trying to stop herself spilling out the top of the ridiculously fancy dress she was wearing, next to a boy who stumbled over his words as he tried to get out the words to explain his latest engineering project and not stare too long at her breasts, Darcy wonders if it had been worth it.

 

 

(Maybe instead she should have just taken the money out of one of Starks many bank accounts. That way she would have the same reward without any of the hassle.)

 

 

Instead Darcy just shudders and deliberately turns her body out of his eyesight and asks the girl on her other side.

‘When do you think this whole shebang is going to get started?’

 

The girl lifts her head (from where she seemed to have been writing out complex equations on a napkin) as if to answer her but gets distracted by something behind Darcy. The girl inclines her head and Darcy spins around. To see Pepper Potts. Pepper-Freaking-Potts. Who Darcy has seen on magazine covers, and even though she knew would be here was in no way prepared for this moment (because its Pepper Freaking Potts).

 

 

Pepper walks smoothly over to them and takes the final seat at the table.

‘I’m Sorry Mr Stark couldn’t make it,’ she says clearly. ‘Unfortunately something has come up and he is unable to be here, but he wishes you all the best in your endeavours throughout your academic career and is so glad the Maria Stark Foundation is able to help you all.’

 

 

Darcy looks around the table, and noticing no empty seats summarises that there was never a time that Mr Stark was going to be there, which just fuels her internal annoyance at him a bit more.

 

 

Over the course of dinner (which is filled with way more courses than Darcy had ever had before, although each course was such a small amount of food that by the end of it, it felt she had only eaten half a meal), Darcy found herself drawn even more to Pepper Potts, listening intently to her every word.

 

 

And it was there, in that over-priced restaurant that Darcy realised she was giving nothing to the world. Sure she was a Grade-A troll, and her ability to hack was pretty great, but that was all about taking. Getting something that someone else had made and deconstructing it for her own good.

And it was sitting at that table listening to Pepper talk about ‘contributions to society’, 'kindness of strangers' and ‘the helpfulness of human nature’, that Darcy experienced her first ever moment of clarity. The moment when the world seemed to scream at her ‘this is your chance to do something great!’ And Darcy wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the world.

 

 

It was that night back in her hotel room she began to work, emailing lecturers and supervisors, talking with heads and pouring over requirements. In the space of 18 hours Darcy had switched her major.

 

 

No longer was she Darcy Lewis, Computer expert who could hack into the dorms security system and set off the fire alarm, just because she wanted so see everyone stumble out of their room at 4 am. No longer was she Darcy Lewis, hacker extraordinaire, hell bent on destroying all dude-bros with a click of her mouse (although she still hated them with a passion). No longer was she Darcy Lewis, a drifter who took the easy way out and enrolled in a course she could already do in an attempt to avoid becoming her parents and obsessed with work.

 

 

Now she was Darcy Lewis, Political Science student. Who, hopefully, will turn the world into a better place. A nicer place. A place worth making for the future.

 

 

 

(Plus because it was political science, it was technically still included under the scholarship rules, So Stark was going to pay for her to get the degree, which made her feel a little great on the inside.)

 

 

 

But first she had to try and figure out how to complete her mandatory science units that she had always put off. Maybe she could talk to her guidance counsellor when she returned to Culver.

 

 


	5. Darcy Meets Sitwell

Darcy meets Sitwell with a fist to his face.

 

She knows she is being followed. Tasha and Clint had both taken to training her, so she knew what it felt like to have eyes watching her, tracking her every move.

 

And so Darcy found herself employing the tactics that had been drilled into her. Contact for help, stay in a crowded area and make sure to kick up a fuss if anything happened. But just as she pulls out her Stark phone with emergency beacon, something sharply hits the back of her head.

 

Darcy awakens to a white room. 

 

And she groans.

 

Because her head hurts, and her shoulder pulls and her phone is missing, and dammit she was having a good hair day until she was manhandled to wherever she was.

 

Glancing around the room and spotting a camera in the corner close to the door, she gives it the finger before rolling over. She knows having her back to the door is dangerous, but she doesn’t want them to see what she is doing.

 

Carefully reaching up to the collar of her jacket she extracts the small screwdriver that was placed there (why the goons hadn’t taken her jacket she will never know).

 

Making sure to keep the screwdriver hidden in her hand Darcy stands up and begins to walk the room, making it seem like she is inspecting it. Once she is under the cameras blind spot she quickly reaches up and using all the strength she owns (plus gravity) pulls it from the wall, ripping it from its power source. 

 

Darcy knows she has limited time, but is happy to see the camera had been transmitting wirelessly, and it isn’t long before she fiddles enough with the controls that she is able to send out a frequency that hopefully JARVIS would be able to pick up and notify others of her location.

 

Its then she hears the door opening, she moves to stand behind it, remembering the points of weakness Clint had pointed out just last month. The man falls after her careful jab to the neck and Darcy is quick to grab his bulletproof vest (which she is grateful to have), his walkie talkie (which she knows can provide her information) and his gun (which she hopes she doesn’t have to fire).

 

The next few minutes are exhausting as she finds herself trying to navigate the base ducking in and out of rooms, using the butt of her gun on the backs of people heads, shutting down power to rooms and sending out more frequencies for JARVIS to find.

 

By the time she reaches the upper levels her adrenaline is high enough that when she is greeted by the SHIELD team, her shock of the hand on her should is enough for her to spin and sock the man attached to the hand in the face. Jasper Sitwell drops to the ground as the SHIELD agents around her try to calm her down. Which doesn’t happen until Coulson arrives and takes care of the situation, getting her emergency lifted back to the tower.

 

The next year when Sitwell is found to be HYDRA, and like one of the biggest jerks on the planet ever, Darcy can’t help boasting about how she had never liked the man, and apparently her gut instincts could be spot on, even when she wasn’t aware.


End file.
